TANGEDCO proposed adding 2 x 660 MW units at the power station: one expansion unit and one replacement unit. The fiercely opposed expansion unit is under development, and the replacement unit is presumed cancelled.
The original power station was established in 1970-75 in an area of about 237 acres. It had an installed capacity of 450 MW (3x110 MW + 2x60 MW) when commissioned.[1]
The power station was shut down permanently on March 31, 2017, and was expected to be replaced with a proposed 660 MW replacement unit.[2]
Expansion unit (660 MW)
TANGEDCO planned to call for tenders for the construction of a 660 MW coal-fired unit (previously 600 MW) in February 2012 with construction scheduled to begin in mid-2012 and commissioning in December 2015.[3][4]
In January 2012, it was announced that Chief Minster Jayalalithaa approved the building of the 600 MW coal-fired unit and that it was projected to be commissioned by late 2015. It was reported that the new unit would not require the acquisition of additional land.[3]
The Energy Department's Policy note 2014-15 included the Ennore expansion (Unit 6). The project cost was Rs 5,000 crore. The construction contract was awarded to Lanco Infratech.[5]
Construction
As of April 2015, the power station was listed as under construction by the India government.[6] It was planned for operation in 2018.[7][8]
Delays & new contract
In March 2018, TNEB cancelled the contract given to Lanco for setting up the unit, saying the project was stuck because of Lanco’s financial problems. Lanco’s insolvency case was pending with the National Company Law Tribunal. The project was to be commissioned in January 2018, but as of March 2018, it was less than 20% complete. According to TNEB, once a new contractor would be identified through a re-tender, it would take three more years for the project to be completed.[9]
According to the India Ministry of Power in April 2019, "Corporate Insolvency & Bankruptcy Process (CIRP) [have been] initiated against Lanco (the EPC Contractor) by IDBI Bank from 07.08.2017 and interim resolution professional appointed on 10.08.2017 and hence the project has been stalled from 07.08.2017." No date was offered for completion.[10]
The unit again received environmental clearance on December 11, 2019.[11] It was also announced that month that following the cancellation of the project tender with Lanco, the engineering, procurement and construction contract was awarded to BGR Energy Systems which said that the overall completion period would be 36 months starting from the date of the contract.[12]
2021: Permit put in abeyance
In September 2021, the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) put in abeyance the Environment Clearance (EC) granted to the 660 MW Ennore Thermal Power Station expansion project for a period of six months, and directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) to conduct a public hearing for the project. Construction was allowed to proceed, but the bench said Tangedco should not commence operations without completion of the process of incorporating additional conditions, if any, made by the MoEF. The NGT directed the Ministry to conduct the public hearing within a period of two months, and after getting the public opinion on the project, direct the Tandegco to conduct further studies, if required. Following this, an additional Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report would have to be submitted to the Expert Appraisal Committee of the MoEFF.[13]
2022: New public hearing and work begins
The public hearing for the project was postponed twice following strong protest by the public and various organizations including Chennai Climate Action Group. However, the NGT Southern Zone refused to reschedule the public hearing despite public health concerns during the pandemic.[14][15]
In August 2022, forward progress was reported on the expansion unit. Following testing, the contractor BGR Energy Systems (BGRESL) was slated to begin the work that had been delayed for five years.[16]
Broad Status reports from 2022 summarized the following: "As per Board decision to revive the project, LOI issued to M/s BGRESL. M/s BGRESL has taken over the project site from 'as is where is basis condition' on 23.06.2022."[17]
Replacement unit (660 MW)
In addition to the expansion unit, TANGEDCO has proposed replacing the existing 450 MW (nameplate) coal plant with a new 660 MW unit (Unit 7). The company received a terms of reference for the project on July 24, 2014, and submitted an EIA in July 2017.[1]
The plant is opposed by the residents who fear that the new plant will degrade the air quality and lead to a loss of fishing livelihoods.[18]
As of January 2020, there had been no further developments, and the project appeared to be deferred or abandoned.
In the 2017 EIA, it was reported the new unit would use domestic coal from the Chandrabila coal block, Odisha.[1]
Financing
In 2015, the state-owned Rural Electrification Corporation agreed to provide loan financing for the project of US$890 million.[19] This financing was linked to the first contract for the construction works with Lanco, which was cancelled.
In 2018, it was reported that the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) provided financing for the expansion project.[9] TANGEDCO also states that PFC is funding the expansion project. The total estimated cost as of January 2019 was Rs 63.8 billion (approximately US$910 million).[20]
Project Details of unit 6 (exp.)
Sponsor: Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Location: Ernavur village, Ambathur taluk, Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu Coordinates: Existing plant: 13.2016, 80.3112 (exact); Unit 6: 13.1980211, 80.3104341 (exact) Status: Construction Capacity: 660 MW Type:Supercritical Projected in service: Coal Type: Coal Source:Mandakini-B coal block, Odisha Source of financing: Expansion Project: Power Finance Corporation[9] Permits and applications:Environmental Clearance, June 3, 2009; additional information, January 24, 2013; "Terms of Reference extension for EIA/EMP report," India MoEF, August 2, 2016; Environmental clearance, India MoEF, December 11, 2019
Project Details of unit 7 (repl.)
Sponsor: Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Location: Ernavur village, Ambathur taluk, Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu Coordinates: 13.2016, 80.3112 (exact) Status: Presumed cancelled Capacity: 660 MW Type:Supercritical Projected in service: Coal Type: Coal Source: Chandrabila coal block, Odisha Source of financing: Rural Electrification Corporation Permits and applications:EIA, TANGEDCO, July 2017
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Pradesh\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Andhra_Pradesh\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Andhra Pradesh\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Andhra Pradesh\n","link":"","lat":17.370000000000001,"lon":78.469999999999999,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Assam\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Assam\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Assam\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Assam\n","link":"","lat":26.140000000000001,"lon":91.769999999999996,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Bihar\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Bihar\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Bihar\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Bihar\n","link":"","lat":25.370000000000001,"lon":85.129999999999995,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Chhattisgarh\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Chhattisgarh\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Chhattisgarh\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Chhattisgarh\n","link":"","lat":21.27,"lon":81.599999999999994,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Gujarat\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Gujarat\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Gujarat\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Gujarat\n","link":"","lat":23.219999999999999,"lon":72.680000000000007,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Haryana\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Haryana\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Haryana\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Haryana\n","link":"","lat":30.73,"lon":76.780000000000001,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Jharkhand\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Jharkhand\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Jharkhand\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Jharkhand\n","link":"","lat":23.350000000000001,"lon":85.329999999999998,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Karnataka\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Karnataka\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Karnataka\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Karnataka\n","link":"","lat":12.9,"lon":77.560000000000002,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Madhya Pradesh\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Madhya_Pradesh\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Madhya Pradesh\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Madhya Pradesh\n","link":"","lat":22.420000000000002,"lon":72.540000000000006,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Maharashtra\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Maharashtra\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Maharashtra\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Maharashtra\n","link":"","lat":18.960000000000001,"lon":72.819999999999993,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Orissa\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Orissa\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Orissa\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Orissa\n","link":"","lat":20.149999999999999,"lon":85.5,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Punjab\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Punjab\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Punjab\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Punjab\n","link":"","lat":30.789999999999999,"lon":76.780000000000001,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Rajasthan\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Rajasthan\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Rajasthan\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Rajasthan\n","link":"","lat":26.57,"lon":73.840000000000003,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Tamil Nadu\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Tamil_Nadu\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Tamil Nadu\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Tamil Nadu\n","link":"","lat":13.09,"lon":80.269999999999996,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in Uttar Pradesh\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_Uttar_Pradesh\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in Uttar Pradesh\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in Uttar Pradesh\n","link":"","lat":26.850000000000001,"lon":80.909999999999997,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProposed coal plants in West Bengal\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClick \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/Category:Proposed_coal_plants_in_West_Bengal\" title=\"Category:Proposed coal plants in West Bengal\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E for more information.\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Proposed coal plants in West Bengal\n","link":"","lat":22.57,"lon":88.269999999999996,"icon":""}]}